ALBAWABA - Sudan's army unleashed artillery and airstrikes in the country's capital on Thursday in its largest effort to retake ground there since the beginning of its 17-month conflict with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The army's offensive occurred before General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the army's leader, spoke before the UN general assembly in New York. The army had lost much of the capital at the beginning of the fight.
Witnesses described severe bombing and battles as army soldiers attempted to cross bridges across the Nile connecting the three surrounding cities - Khartoum, Omdurman, and Bahri.
Black smoke could be seen rising above the capital in video footage, with the strikes heard in the background.
According to Army authorities, their men crossed bridges in Khartoum and Bahri. The RSF informed Reuters that it had foiled the army's effort to cross two bridges into Khartoum. Reuters was unable to independently corroborate the accounts.
Burhan told the UN General Assembly that he supported attempts to end his country's war as long as the RSF's "occupation" of land ended.
He said that governments in the region were helping the RSF with funds, weapons, and mercenaries, although he did not name any specific countries.
Though the army retook some areas in Omdurman earlier this year, it is mostly reliant on artillery and airstrikes and has been unable to repel agile RSF ground fighters stationed in other sections of the capital.
In recent months, the RSF has made more advances in other regions of Sudan in a battle that has resulted in a massive humanitarian disaster, displacing more than 10 million people and forcing parts of the nation into acute starvation or famine.
This month, the war for control of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state in western Sudan, escalated as the RSF attempted to push from positions surrounding the city against the army and allied former rebel groups.
